Day of the Dead altars, a tradition developed in Mexico, present foods, photos, candles, and other objects that honor deceased loved ones. Influenced by Aztec and Catholic beliefs, the altars, or Ofrendas, can be set up in homes or public spaces during celebrations of Día de los Muertos or All Saints and All Souls Day at the start of November. Through November 7, Duke Chapel is hosting a large ofrenda commissioned by Duke Arts and created by artists with the Inter-Latin American Artist Collective. To better understand the traditions, history, and beliefs surrounding ofrendas, the Chapel, Duke Arts, and Say the Thing, convened a panel discussion at the Chapel. Held in Spanish and English, this episode of "Sounds of Faith" is the English portion of the conversation with the Spanish version available on this same podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Sounds of Faith, a podcast exploring traditions of faith, sacred music, and spoken word here at Duke University Chapel. Day of the Dead altars, a tradition developed in Mexico, present foods, photos, candles, and other objects that honor deceased loved ones. Influenced by Aztec and Catholic beliefs, the altars or ofrendas can be set up in homes or public spaces during celebrations of Day of the Dead or All Saints and All Souls' Day. Through November 6th, Duke Chapel is hosting a large ofrenda commissioned by Duke Arts and created by artists with the Inter-Latin American Artist Collective. To better understand the traditions, history, and beliefs surrounding ofrendas, the Chapel, Duke Arts, and Say the Thing convened a panel discussion at the chapel on October 15. Held in Spanish and English, what follows is the English portion of the conversation with the Spanish version available on this same podcast. The moderator is the Chapel's Director of Special Initiatives, the Reverend Leah Torey.
Leah Torey:
Tonight we've assembled four incredible panelists who will each share stories and perspectives about Dia de los Muertos. I'll ask the panelists to introduce themselves and answer the first prompt. After they each answer, we'll have a second question, and if there's time, we'll open it up to the audience to ask questions as well. So I'm going to turn it over to our incredible panelists now. The first question we'll ask is, please share a story or a memory of an ofrenda or from Dia de los Muertos to set the stage for what this holiday and set of practices means to you.
Juan José Hernandez:
Well, good evening everyone. Father Juan Jose Hernandez. I'm the chaplain of the Duke Catholic Center, my third year here. Originally from Puerto Rico, and I'm glad to be here. Thank you so much for the invitation to be here. To the first question, a question of something memorable. It's interesting, with Dia de los Muertos and any remembrance of those who've passed, it always brings... there's an element of sadness, right? Because we're celebrating, in some way, death in some way. So it always comes to, you think of family members, and we all have those experiences in our life. And probably the first one of those that I can remember is my own brother who was 20 years old, and I remember the sadness of the funeral, but every year after that, to go back to where he was buried in the cemetery. And even though in Puerto Rico, the celebration looks very different than perhaps it looks in Mexico or in Central America, nonetheless, it has some of these very important elements that are still always present.
I think the art is much better in Mexico than it is in Puerto Rico, but what is being done is very much the same. And that going back, and besides the bringing flowers and spending some time to go back to a cemetery, it is something that is... It's a reminder. In the case of, I think of my brother [inaudible 00:03:12] my grandparents, and unfortunately aunts and uncles and other people that along the way finished their journey here, it was a great reminder that they are not separated from u
